SR, county say unincorporated area could be annexed by year's end

BLEYS W. ROSE

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 19, 2007

Sonoma County and Santa Rosa officials negotiating terms of Roseland annexation say they are close to reaching agreement, so close that they see the possibility of annexation happening by the end of the year.

"The next step is getting an annexation proposal out to the community," County Administrator Bob Deis said.

Both the county Board of Supervisors and the Santa Rosa City Council have items on their agendas today for discussion of annexation negotiations. Both sides say talks during five negotiating sessions have progressed so well that it is time to set a date in July for a public meeting on annexation of Roseland to the city.

Deis said officials could return to county supervisors and City Council members with annexation plans late this summer. The rest of the annexation process could take up to 180 days, depending upon the Local Area Agency Formation Commission's process for public hearings and the need for an election.

Steven Greenberg, a consultant who serves as co-chairman of the Roseland Roundtable group, said Monday that there might not even be an election if city and county negotiators draw the Roseland annexation map to include such a large area that LAFCO's threshold for written protests won't be met, thus avoiding the trigger for a public vote.

"Annexation by the end of the year would be a push, but it will be done before the next city council election," Greenberg said. "It is going to cost a lot of money to the city, but it is not going to cost less if they do it 10 years from now."

Over the past two decades, the unincorporated Roseland area has become increasingly urbanized with residents demanding more city-style services, including sidewalks, gutters, curbs and streetlights.

City officials have been reluctant to take on new areas that require heavy expenditures on infrastructure and that place added burdens on law enforcement. Meanwhile, county officials have been reluctant to agree to piecemeal annexations, such as those that have made the area between South Wright Road and Corby Avenue look like a patchwork quilt of jurisdictions.

LAFCO, the intergovernment agency that approves annexations, has stepped in to declare that all of Roseland must be annexed but that annexation can occur over a period of time.

One focus of current negotiation involves whether the Roseland annexation should be expanded to include "islands" of unincorporated areas as well as others that are likely to be absorbed into the city limits in the future.

County officials want the annexation to include just about everything from Highway 12 to Hearn Avenue and from Stony Point Road to Corby Avenue. However, the city's annexation plan involved study of a smaller chunk of Roseland, excluding the "islands" and excluding everything along Burbank Avenue from Hughes to Hearn Avenue.

Negotiators say they also are far apart on estimates of how much of a revenue deficit the city would run over a 10-year period following annexation. Their estimates differ by about $29 million, but about $24 million of that difference is attributed to consultants that couldn't agree on potential law enforcement costs.

Pacific Municipal Consultants, hired by the city, estimated law enforcement would cost $37 million over the next 10 years, while Rosenow Spevacek Group, hired by the county, said it will only cost $13 million. City officials are re-examining their consultants' assumptions on calls for police service and staffing projections and expect to come up with revised estimates by today.

Deis said he will warn supervisors today that Roseland annexation will result in the loss of up to $3.5 million a year in property taxes, which likely will mean cuts in county service programs next year.

You can reach Staff Writer Bleys W. Rose at 521-5431 or bleys.rose@pressdemocrat.com.